CCAMLR

The conservation status of albatrosses has been re-evaluated using the recent suggested taxonomic revisions of albatrosses and the new IUCN criteria for identification of threatened taxa. The evaluations of threat status and categories were prepared by independent albatross specialists before being critically reviewed and endorsed by Birdlife International.
This evaluation reveals albatrosses to have the highest proportion of threatened species in any bird family that comprises more than a single species. Of the 24 albatross species recognized in the new taxonomy, two species (Amsterdam Albatross and Chatham Albatross) are Critically Endangered, two species (Northern Royal Albatross and Tristan Albatross( are Endangered, and 16 species are classed as Vulnerable. Currently only the two most abundant albatross species, the Black-browed (Near Threatened) and Laysan Albatrosses are classified as Lower Risk. For two species (Light-mantled Albatross and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross) the present level of knowledge regarding population trend and status provides an inadequate basis for classification and these are assessed as Data Deficient.

The major recent advances in studies of albatross biology, ecology and conservation are reviewed. In addition to highlights arising during the first Albatross Conference, pioneering research on topics little covered therein (e.g., behaviour, moult, diet, physiology) are summarised. Important topics and opportunities for future research are suggested. The major historical and current threats to albatrosses are reviewed and the priority initiatives needed to tackle the latest – and greatest – threat, that of incidental mortality associated with longline fisheries, summarised.

In 1994, an experimental longline fisheri for hake Merluccius spp. commenced in the shelf water of South Africa. Participants were required to record any birds caught, and these data were supplemented by ship-based observers on several vessels. Longlines are set at night, and the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis was the only seabird species caught while attempting to scavenge bait during gear setting. Small numbers of great shearwaters Puffinus gravis and pintado petrels Daption capense were killed during hauling operations. The hake longline fishery is estimated to kill 8000 ± 6400 white-chinned petrels a year in South African waters at a rate of 0.44 birds per 1000 hooks. This represents

In response to the Department of Conservation's concerns for the accidental capture of seabirds by Surface Long Liners and subsequent contract 9513004, several concepts of bait placement devices were evaluated. Two methods being selected for further in depth evaluation.
The first concept being a towed paravane with an endless cable employed to transport and release the bait at the depth to which the paravane was set. Although practical bait carrying devices were designed, the ability to retrieve the endless cable and paravane proved problematical. At this point this concept was abandoned.
The second concept being a transportation capsule which clamps the baited snood until the capsule reaches its determined depth. At this point in time the carry over action of the capsule and retrieval action would release the bait. This design concept proved worthy of construction and trial. Sea trials of this device proved successful with a 100 percent bait release rate achieved.

The accidental/incidental capture of seabirds by longline gear may be causing a significant decline in the numbers of some species (most notably albatross Diomedea sp) in the Southern Oceans.
In response to the sea bird problem, the New Zealand Department of Conservation funded a programme in 1996 to develop a device to set baits underwater on commercial longliners.
Trials on two U tube devices are reported in this document. One with the tube opening facing forward was unsuccessful ,in flushing bait to the setting depth, however a backward facing U tube succeeded in flushing the bait on all trials to the setting depth of 1.5 metres.
A second trial was undertaken with the backward facing U tube. On all trials the U tube * successfully flushed the baits to the required three metre depth.
The U tube is a simple mechanical device requiring only one additional item of equipment - a deckhose. The device requires minimal operator skill, and is easy to build and maintain.
The U tube has the potential to set baits at greater than three metres. However, this capability has not been tested. Further study is required to test the device on commercial tuna vessel operating conditions and to assess the effectiveness of the device in thwarting seabirds from capturing the baits underwater.

Satellite telemetry was used to identify the foraging zones of Shy Albatrosses Diomedca cauta breeding at two sites of Tasmania, Australia (Albatross Island in western Bass Strait and Pedra Branca to the south) to assess their level of interaction with longline fisheries. Adult birds from both colonies fed locally both in and outside the breeding season. Breeding birds from Albatross Island foraged over the Australian continental shelf or slope waters off northwest Tasmania, while those from Pedra Branca foraged between the colony and the southeastern edge of the continental shelf. The distances travelled by the birds and the duration of their foraging trips varied during the breeding cycle and tended to decrease as eggs approached hatching Adults which were tracked near the end of the breeding season (March-April, n = 7 birds) deserted their chicks prematurely, and while dispersing further than incubating or brooding birds, they rcmained over the continental shelf and slope waters off southeast Australia. Home range analyses indicatcd 41%, overlap between foraging zones of birds during successive breeding stages. Dispersal during the postbreeding period extended the foraging zones with less overlap between individuals (10% for Albatross Island and 19% for Pedra Branca). The recent contraction of the Japanese Southern Bluefin Tuna longline fishery to the south and east coasts of Tasmania has resulted in extensive overlap with adult Shy Albatrosses from Pedra Branca, but appears to pose a minimal threat to adult birds from Albatross Island. Coupled with the concomitant increase In the Australian domestic tuna longlining Industry, adult Shy Albatrosses from southern Tasmania (Pedra Branca and the Mewstone) are vulnerable to incidental capture throughout their annual cycle.

Longline fishing for Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides commenced at the Prince Edward Islands in October 1996, but unsanctioned fishing commenced some months before this date. This paper summarizes the mortality of seabirds associated with this fishery during the year July 1996-June 1997. Data on seabird bycatches were obtained from fishery observers aboard 10 of 12 sanctioned fishing trips. Some 3.2 million hooks were observed during the period November-June, representing 84 % of the estimated 3.8 million hooks set by permit-holders in the South African Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). However, the total fishing effort is estimated, based on landings, to be between 20 and 50 million hooks.
Average bird bycatch rate was 0.289 birds per 1000 hooks set. However, there was considerable variance between vessels (range 0.004 to 1.468 birds per 1000 hooks) as a function of fishing season, time of setting, distance from the Prince Edward Islands, mitigation measures employed, and type of fishing gear used. Observers reported 923 birds of 10 species killed. The species most affected were White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis (73 % of the total killed), Grey-headed Thalassarche chyrsostoma and Yellow-nosed Albatrosses T. chlororhynchos (together 23 %), and giant petrels Macronectes spp. (4 %). Extrapolating to the total fishery suggests that between 5 000 and 20 000 birds were killed during 1996-97. This excludes birds killed that were not hauled aboard vessels. Ten toothfish hooks were found in birds or in bird pellets on Marion Island during 1996-97. Almost all birds killed were breeding adults, and there was a significant bias towards males in at least three species. More than 1 % of four or five local breeding seabird populations were killed during the 1996-97 season. Given the low reproductive rate of these species, these levels of mortality (exacerbated by mortality in other longline fisheries) are not sustainable, and will result in local population declines.
Bird mortality can be largely avoided by setting lines only at night, using a CCAMLR-approved bird-scaring (tori) line during setting, and not fishing during the main summer breeding season (or at least fishing >200 km from the breeding islands during this period). These measures were largely disregarded during most of the 1996-97 season. Unfortunately, the necessity for a presence around the islands to reduce the impact of uncontrolled fishing renders the last option impractical in the short term. It is important that observers continue to be placed aboard all vessels to monitor catches of both fish and birds, and to ensure compliance with regulations to reduce bird bycatch.